Author: Don Guthrie

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 118 (day one)
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. . .They (the nations) swarmed around me like bees. . .the stone that the builders rejected has become the capstone. . .this is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  (vs 1, 12, 22, 24)  Life is always a strange mixture of good and bad, joy and sorrow.  Our praise remains constant.  God’s goodness does not change when circumstances are painful or tense.  Our obligation to worship doesn’t change either.  “Shall we ACCEPT good from God and not ACCEPT adversity” said Job (Job 2:10)  Great question!  Paul and Silas sang hymns of praise in prison at midnight.  Great liberty!  So, when our enemies surround us like a swarm of bees. . .when the builders (i.e. the leaders) reject Christ and build culture on secular values, (there will be days like this)believers see God’s hand and God’s goodness.  This is God’s day, let us rejoice in it!

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 95 (day seven)
“COME, let us sing for joy to the Lord”  (vs 1)  It is spiritual work to gather the people of God.  No voice rings truer the love of Heaven than the one that invites/calls/encourages/reminds people of the power and blessing of worship.  People get distracted and “dis integrated”.  Overwhelmed and stressed.  If we want a Sunday School class to stay focused we must always be gathering/encouraging them.  Same with a church or a family.  “GATHER the people, the men and the women and the children and the alien who is in your town, in order that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this Law.” ( Deuternonomy 31:12)  How long has it been since the people in our circle of influence have heard this loving invitation from you?  “COME, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our God our maker.” (Psalm 95:6)

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 95 (day one)
“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.”  (vs 1)  It is a “call to worship”.  A song that gathers/invites people for the purpose of praise.  Everyone has to be encouraged at times.  Worship is a choice not a feeling.  So the Psalm answers the obvious questions.  Why should we sing?  Why should we sing with joy?  Why should we sing to the Lord?  1) Because He created us.  He is “our maker” (vs 6).  2) Because He cares.  Like a shepherd protecting his sheep, God deserves our praise for His provision (vs 7).  3) Because He calls.  It is a great mistake to resist God.  The song writer remembers the disaster that came when Israel “hardened their hearts”(vs 7b-11).  It will be the same for us.  Why should we worship?  Because He created us, He cares for us, and He calls us to Himself and to His holiness.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 91 (day seven)
“He will command His angels to guard you. . . they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”  (Satan, quoting Psalm 91 in Luke 4:10-11)  In 1988, Salman Rushdie published a novel called The Satanic Verses. It is a fictional story based loosely on the true account of Mohammed who was once influenced by Satan to speak words into the Quran,  later to renounce the things said.  Even to remind the Muslim world of this little-known truth was explosive.  (Rushdie experienced death threats)  The Bible tells a very different story of Jesus’ encounter with Satan.  Without being influenced,  the Lord denied Satan’s misinterpretation of Psalm 91 from the very start.  God’s promise is to protect us from some dangers and to guide us through others.  There is no absolute immunity from danger and pain. The Bible has no satanic verses, but the enemy still works to misinterpret and confuse our trust.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 91 (day six)  “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty”  (vs 1)  “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.” says a familiar hymn. (Come Thou Fount)  Sorry to say it, but the author is not alone.  I feel the irritating tendency to wander away from the Lord.  Do you?  One day, I am close to Christ.   The next, I walk away, in conscious disobedience or unconscious distraction.  Arrrgh!  It costs me God’s protection and blessing.  Like Sampson, people loved by God must stay with Him or experience discipline.  The God-given condition for our protection is that we remain/dwell/abide in Him.  “If you remain in my word, and my words remain in you, you shall ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.”  God’s best gifts are not for those who occasionally visit the Father’s house.  Those who dwell in Him find rest in Him.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 91 (day one)
“If you make the Most High your dwelling. . .no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.”  (vs 9-10)  David talks to himself.  It is one of the secrets of his spiritual life.  In vs 2 of Psalm 91, he says what he is GOING TO SAY to God.  By vs 3, he begins to assure himself  with the implications of such a commitment.  “Surely he will save you”  (vs 3)  “A thousand may fall at your side. . .but it will not come near you.”  (vs 7)  It is important to remember these are not promises from God to David.  They are words of confidence from David to David.  Nothing wrong with self-talk so long as we remember what God actually promises.  See vs 14-16.  God’s words (you will notice) are less about protection FROM danger.  More about the presence of God with us IN danger.  Self-talk is one thing.  God’s word is something else.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 69 (day seven)
“Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head.”  (vs 4)  Are Christians paranoid?  Do we imagine the hostility of the world?  Make it worse than it really is?  Are we just “whiners” believing media and government to be biased against us?  Not always.  No.  The long testimony of history is that “this world is no friend to grace.”  The very life of the church and the testimony of the Spirit is convicting to the natural man.  (see John 16:8)  In mild ostracism and overt persecution, the man who lives apart from God reacts to the person who walks with Him.  Something dark is at work here.  On His last night,  Jesus said,  “You know that (the world) hated me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love you, but . . .I chose you out of the world.”  (John 15:18-19)  Make us courageous and kind, Lord.  The opposition is real.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 69 (day six)
“I am worn out calling for help.  My throat is parched.  My eyes fail, looking  for God.”  (vs 3)  David is in trouble.  Surrounded by enemies.  Falsely accused.  What does he do?  He prays and waits.  Why?  It isn’t because prayer brings him quick relief.  David reports crying out until his throat hurts.  What keeps him on his knees?  The book of Jeremiah speaks of people who “walked after emptiness and became empty”  (Jeremiah 2:5)  The disciples put the same truth in different words.  “Lord, where could we go?  You alone have words of eternal life.”  The reason that Christians wait on the Lord is that we have no other choice!  If God is patient we must learn the same virture.  To leave Him because waiting is hard is foolish.  God is good, but He is also slow (from our near-sighted perspective).  Faith means we pray, even when we have to wait for Him to answer.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 69 (day one)
“Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. . .Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs on my head. . .But I pray to you, O Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.”  (vs 1, 4, 13)  Do I pray?  When circumstances overwhelm me, do I immediately cry out to God?  When people are unfair or unkind or unconcerned about me, do I turn to God and find strength in Him?  David is teaching us to do so.  Do not grumble.  Do not withdraw in wounded pessimism.  Pray!  It is a clear sign of real faith.  Do not panic.  Do not deflate.  Ask and expect God’s help!  Abraham Lincoln once said that in the darkest days of the Civil War he prayed because, “frankly, I had no where else to turn.”  When life gangs up on me, do I pray?  Do you?